Stone-rubbing machine.



PATENTBD AUG. 29, 1905.

J. R. PEIRUE. STONE RUBBING MACHINE.

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PATBNTED AUG. 29, 1905.

J. R. PEIRCE. STONE RUBBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1905.

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WITNESSES:

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No. 798,587; PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905.

J. R. PEIRGE. STONE RUBBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1905.

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INVENTOR:

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UNITED ST S JOHN ROYDEN PEIRCE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STONE-RUBBING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1905.

Application filed May 27, 1905- Serial No. 262,577.

To all whom it puny concern:

Be it known that I, J onN RoYDnN Pnmon, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stone-Rubbing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In the working of marble or similar ornamental stones the stone is usually taken out of a quarry in large blocks, which are then sawn into slabs and molded or cut into desired shapes. The saws leave very rough pitmarks, and before any subsequent operations upon the slabs their faces are smoothed upon rubbing machines. These are large rotating horizontal disks-say twelve to twenty feet in diameter-in order to receive large slabs of stone. WVater and sand are fed upon the face of the disk or rubber, and the slab is laid directly thereon and simply held from rotation. The sand and water gradually wear down the faces of the slabs to a degree of smoothness which makes them fit for the application of the subsequent polishing operations. The action of these rubbers is slow, hours being required to smooth one face of a marble slab. Furthermore, the slabs require practically constant attention from highpriced operators. Thus the work is very slow and expensive. \Vith the machine of my present invention the work is quickly accomplished and no special degree of skill is required, it being only necessary for the operator to start the machine.

In a prior application (Serial No. 262,075, filed May 24, 1905) I have described and claimed, broadly, a machine for rubbing marble and similar building-stones in which a horizontal roll of carborundum or the like rotates at a high rate of speed over the face of the slab, so as to rub it over its full width and length in a single pass. The machine of the present application embodies the same general principles, but differs in features of construction hereinafter described. The material of the roll is preferably fine carborundum say one-hundred-and-twenty grit and it is found that this leaves a surface not exactly the same as thatleft by the rubbingbed, but which requires no longer time for polishing than the rubbing-bed surface. Other sizes and other materials may be used, especially silicates, such as the silicate of boron or aluminium, or other modern products of the electric furnace, which are generally understood to be the equivalents of the silicate of carbon, (CELIbOIUIlClUIlL) In order to prevent the burning and consequent discoloring and softening of the marble, (which cannot be corrected without grinding away and resurfacing the burned parts,) copious jets of water or other cooling liquid are applied along the entire length of the roll and preferably at a part of the roll immediately in the rear of its point of engagement with the slab. It is important to maintain the drum-surface true throughout its length, so as to produce a true surface on the slab and so as to minimize lateral strains upon the drum itself, and means are provided for truing the face of the drum at necessary intervals.

Other points of improvement are referred to in detail hereinafter.

As this machine is designed for use in a very specific class of work namely, the reduction of the face of the stone from one specific condition (that in which it leaves the saws) to another specific condition (that in which it is subjected to the polishing operations)long and expensive experimentation has been necessary to develop the best materials and best features of construction, and the machine is not to be confused with roll and bed machines used in other arts.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan, partly in horizontal section. Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a face view of one of the standards for supporting the roll. Fig. 4 is a plan of one end of the dresser. Fig. 5 is a central transverse section showing the rolls in elevation. Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line 6 6 in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the embodiment of the invention illustrated, A is a horizontal roll of carborundum or the like of suitable fineness and hardness to produce, preferably at one pass of a slab through the machine, a surface suit' able for polishing. A slab B is moved over the roll at the same time that the roll is rotated rapidly, and thus the under face of the slab is rubbed to the necessary smoothness. The roll A is of the full width of the slab-supporting portion of the machine, so that it will rub at one pass the entire width of the widest slabs. Besides the economy of time effected by this arrangement,the particular advantage is secured of obtaining a surface which is perfectly smooth and without any ridges or lines across the entire face. The support for the slab consists of a forward table and a rear table D, the latter standing above the former only the minute distance corresponding to the quantity of material to be rubbed from the under face of the slab B. The roll A is interposed between the adjacent edges of the two tables and is at its highest point level with the top of the table D. Thus it rubs away adefinite and calculated depth of the slab. The

not necessarily be parallel with the rubbed face. Inaccuracies in thickness frequently occur; but in practice it is seldom necessary to correct these, since only the face of the stone is exposed in use. The tables G and D v are preferably adjustable by means of screwjacks E, one pair for each end of each table, and adjusting-wheels F, connected by wormgearing with the screw-jacks E.

shape in which it usually comes from the saws, there are provided a series of threaded shafts G, driven synchronously from a powershaft H, and blocks J are provided independently adjustable on their several shafts G. The blocks J project slightly above the face of the table (J and are provided with slots through which pass loosely bolts K, with nuts L on their upper ends and connected at their lower ends to slides M, (see Fig. 6,) which .run on guides N on the under face of the table G, the slides M being engaged with the screw-threads of the shafts G. The nut L being loosened, the several blocks J may be pushed up against the irregular edge of the slab B. Then the nuts L will be screwed down tightly, and when the power-shaft H is rotated the blocks will move forward and carry with them the slab B in the desired straight line.

A very important feature of the invention is the arrangement of water or other cooling ets so as to strike the roll at a point immediately in the rear of the point of contact with the slab, so that the water is carried with force between the roll and the slab and burning is practicallyentirely avoided. For this purpose the table D is integrally formed or otherwise provided with a tube 0, having jet-apertures directed immediately to or in the rear of the point of contact, thus securing the greatest efiiciency of the jets.

For increasing the pressure between the slab and the roll beyond that which results from the weight of the slab alone there is preferably employed a roll P, having a face of rubber or other yielding material and arranged immediately above the rubbing-roll, so as to press yieldingly at the point of contact.

It is to be understood that the slabs as they come from the saw are ordinarily quite wide, and the roll may be accordingly about six and one-half feet long and about seven and 5 one-half feet between its bearing centers.

back of the slab may be left rough and need In order to handle the stone in the rough With such dimensions the difliculty of maintaining the alinement of the surface of the roll is very great, and therefore I purpose providing as a permanent part of the machine (though it may be removable therefrom temporarily) a dresser which is preferably supported below the slab-support and which is reciprocable longitudinally along the face of the roll, so that the roll being simultaneously rotated and the dresser being adjusted for wear at the end of each stroke the face of the roll will be dressed as nearly as possible to a true cylinder. Referring to Figs. 2 and 4, the dressing-tool Q may be of any suitable material and type and is mounted in a slide R, which is adjusted by a bolt R to move toward and from the rubbing-roll in a traveler S. The traveler S slides on a plain shaft T and receives its movement by being threaded on a screw-shaft U. The shafts T and U are mounted in bearings V on the base Wof the machine, (or it may be on an independent support to avoid vibration,) and the screw-shaft U is provided with pulleys X and X for driving it in opposite directions and loose pulleys Y and Y, the power being obtained from belting from shafts overhead or otherwise placed.

The great simplicity of construction is made possible by supporting the roll A (weighing in the neighborhood of a ton) in fixed bearings Z, these being preferably roller-bearings of the very best type, and the drum being provided with two pulleys a, one at each end, so that the drum may be driven simultaneously from both ends and avoid or minimize torsional strains. The pressingroll P is mounted in bearings b, which are pivoted in frames 0, which slide up and down in suitable grooves formed in the side standards cl, handwheels 6 being arranged to lift and lower the frames 0. The bearings Z, however, are supported directly in the solid metal of the standards (Z, as is indicated in Fig. 3, upon which the top half-ringfis bolted down. The standards (Z have their bases 9 extending inward and connected to the bases W of the tables, as by bolts g, thus insuring the greatest rigidity in the relative positions of the roll and tables.

An important feature is the making of the roll, which I designate as a whole by the letter A, of a central steel core It, with rings j of carborundum keyed thereon. The adjacent or joining faces of the successive rings j are in planes oblique to the axis and preferably alternately oblique to each other. This arrangement avoids any possibility of longitudinal marks on the stone due to the joints between the rings of carborundum. By having a number of rings there is necessarily a certain amount of play between them, though this is made very slight, and the roll yields to lateral strains and vibrations of the steel core without breakage of the corborundum. The joints between the rings are preferably cemented;

but as the cementused is more or less elastic it does not interfere with the play referred to, (it being understood, of course. that this play is very slight, almost infinitesimal, though the strain might be sufficient to break the carborundum if it were not provided for.)

It is not essential that a solid-steel shaft be used. A greater strength in proportion to the weight may be obtained by enlarging the shaft and making it hollow and making the sections of carborundumnothing more than comparatively thin sleeves.

The small pulleys aare designed to rotate the roll at a high rate of speed-say a mile a minute of circumferential velocity while the threaded shafts G feed the marble comparatively slowly (nine or eighteen inches a minute in the machine which I have designed) over the roll, so as to permit the complete reduction of the successive transverse sections of the marble to the desired smoothness.

The dresser and the particular construction of the roll in separate rings are not claimed in this application, being described in order to make clear the best construction and manner of using the machine.

Though I have described with great particularity of detail a certain embodiment of the invention, yet it is not to be understood therefrom that the invention is limited to the specific embodiment disclosed. Various modifications thereof in detail and in the arrangement and combination of the parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the invention.

What I claim is- 1. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough -sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to a smoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll of carborundum of suitable fineness, and means for moving a slab over said roll and rotating the roll whereby the under face of the slab may be rubbed'to the necessary smoothness.

2. Astone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to a smoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll of carborundum of suitable fineness, and means formoving a slab over said roll and rotating the roll whereby the under face of the slab may be rubbed to the necessary smoothness, and means for applying cooling-jets all along the line of contact of the roll with the slab.

3. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to a smoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll of carborundum of suitable fineness, and means for moving a slab over said roll and rotating the roll whereby the under face of the slab may be rubbed to the necessary smoothness, said roll being mounted in fixed bearings, and a pressingroll above said rul.)bingroll and adapted to be adjusted vertically for different thicknesses of stone.

4:. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to a smoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll A of carborundum of suitable fineness, a pair of tables C and D, and means for moving said slab on said tables and over said roll and rotating the roll whereby the under face of the slab may be rubbed to the necessary smoothness, said roll A being substantially as wide as said tables.

5. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to asmoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll A of carborundum of suitable fineness, a pair of tables C and 1), and means for moving said slab on said tables and over said roll and rotating the roll whereby the under face of the slab may be rubbed to the necessary smoothness, and a tube 0 with orifices adapted to introduce cooling-jets directly to the point of contact.

6. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to red uce such face to a smoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll of carborundum of suitable fineness, and means for moving a slab over said roll and rotating the roll whereby the under face of the slab may be rubbed to the necessary smoothness, said roll beingsupported in fixed bearings, and adjustable tables C and D upon which the slab is supported, and whereby the depth of material removed by the roll may be regulated.

7. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to a smoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll of carborundum of suitable fineness, means for rotating said roll, threaded shafts and blocks moved by said shafts and adjustable thereon to engage an irregular edge of a slab.

8. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to a smoothness suitable for polishing, including in combination a horizontal roll of carborundum of suitable fineness, means for rotating said roll, threaded shafts G driven simultaneously from a common power-shaft, blocks J, and slides M driven by said shafts (1i and upon which the blocks J are adjustable to engage an irregular edge of a slab.

9. A stone-rubbing machine for smoothing the rough-sawn face of marble or similar building-stone to reduce such face to a smooth- 10 by the roll may be regulated, and a pressingroll P vertically adjustable to hold the slab down on the roll.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN ROYDEN PEIROE.

\Vitnesses:

DOMINGO A. USINA, THEODORE T. SNELL. 

